Wire distributing cellular metal floor



March 23, 1954 w w s 2,672,749

WIRE DISTRIBUTING CELLULAR METAL FLOOR Filed Oct. 1, 1948 INVENTOR.

v Q aw? ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 23, 1954 I WIRE DISTRIBUTING CELLULAR,METAL .FLOOR Joseph WiiWiesmann, Pittsburgh, Pa.,'assignorit0 H. H.Robertson Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a

- corporation of Pennsylvania Applicationoctober 1, 1948, SerialNo.52,251

fi -Claims. (01; 72-16) 1 This .1 invention relates to -a wiredistributing .eelluiar metal floor.

The invention has for an object to provide a l novel and improved wireclistributing cellular metal floorfor use inthe construction of:a'buildfling which ischaracterized by novel structure whereby economiesmaybe efiectecl in the manu- "facture and initial installationof thefloor, and which may be readily made ava'ilable for expansion of 1 theelectrical service as subsequently required',: in a simple :andefficientmanner.

With this general object in view, and such wthersasmay hereinafterappear, the invention consists in the wire distributing cellular metalfloor and in the various structures, arrangeaments and'combinations ofparts hereinafter .de-

rscribed an'dparticularlydefinedlin theclaims at athesend of thisspecification.

In the drawings illustrating the 1 preferred embodimentrof theinvention, Fig. l is a perspective view mof a \wiredistributing-cellular metal ifloor embodying the presentinvention; Fig.2 is a cross sectional view of aconcealed access open- -ing zzprovidediatnan initially unused junction 'Z DOiI'lt and coveredover byitheconcrete ifioor fill;

;F?i'g..3 .is a plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 2 before beingcovered over by the floor tfill ,F'ig. 'is aicrcss sectionalview,.simi1ar tonFig. 2, showing the :flooring broken .away and the unitopened :up atithe "junction point prepared to "re- Lceive .an uppersection providing access Jtoran .lunderlying wiring duct; landFig'fizisacross sectional-viewof the completed junction unit with the luppersection installed.

:In general, .the presentcinvention relates to :an improvement in a wiredistributing .metal floor- .ing system such as Iis disclosed the UnitedStates patent to Young et al., No. 2,125,366. 'Such systems embody amulticellularlmetal floor- ;ingthrough which wiresumay be drawn toprovide electrical service to different parts of the building. The wiresare fed to the different cells We, cross-over duct mounted to-extendtransversely of and preferably along the top of the l-multicellularflooring and through which the feed :wires may be extended. Thecross-over ductsare provided with junctionunits at selected intersectingpoints of the duct with the cells thus providing access ;openings topermit B160- trical service to befurnished-"to selected of the flooringcells.

,In practice, -a different cross-over duct. is :pref- .erablyrused foreach type ofxelectrical service pmvided. .irForitexample, l'owwtensionlines pray .hemrovidedzinpneccrossmtzerrduct andshigh'tension lines in asecond duct, anddifierent flooring cells are preferably used fordistributing the wires from each cross-over duct. Thus, when twocross-over ducts are used it has been the practice-in such prior wiredistributing systems to provide a complete junction unit at alternateintersecting cells, the junction units of one-crossover duct beingstaggered relative to the other so that each and every cell in theflooring is immediately available for wire distribution.

In actual practice, only a verysm'all-percentage of such available andimmediately usable cells are actually 'used in an initial installation,and those not used are covered over by the floor covering, Although theabove described system is of advantage in that each cell is immediatelyavailable for wiring purposes, "itwill beapparent that the provision ofa complete jun'ctionun'it at each intersection of =thecross-0ver ductwith an underlying Wire distributing cell in such "prior systems:involves a great deal of unnecessary time, labor "and expenseintheinitialinstallation, especially when it is considered "that a majorityof the cells :may never be used.

In accordance with the present invention, the cross-over ducts areprovided with "complete junction units at those cell intersections'ionly which are to be immediately used, the intersections at theremaining cells being provided with concealed access openings whichxmaybe Iinitia1- ly completely covered over with the vfloor ifill, but whichmay be opened up when subsequently required and provided with an uppersection to form a complete junction unit. Thus, in rthose installationsin which all (of the cells are not made immediately available for use,the present wire distributing apparatus effects substantial economies inmanufacturing costs and material, and also in the time and laborinvolved in the initial installation.

Referring now to the drawings, 10 represents one type of cellular metalflooring used the erection of buildings and which as hereinshown,comprises a plurality of units formed by assembling and welding togetheran upper'corrugated sheet 12 and a lower corrugatednsheet ll toformin-efiect .aseries of closely spaced parallel hollow beams or cells Hiupon "the top :of which a concrete fill I8 "is poured and the finishflooring 20 is laid, as illustrated in Fig. 1. 'In practice, it ispreferred to manufacture the cellular metal floor in units of varyinglengths accordings to :the steel fabrication of the building in whichthe floor is to.be:incorporated, ,and during the :erection 0f the floor,the units are laid end torend so that the cells of one unit cooperatewith and form extensions of the cells of a second unit to provide aplurality of continuous conduits extending across the building andthrough which wiring for electrical service of various types may bedrawn.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, the preferred form of cross-over ductcomprises an elongated, hollow, rectangular shaped conduit 22 having anupper section provided with a top wall 24 and depending side walls 26having their edges bent outwardly, and having a lower section 28comprising the lower wall having its longitudinal marginal edges turnedupwardly and inwardly to embrace the outwardly bent edges of the sidewalls 26, the upper and lower sections being preferably welded togetherto form an integral unit. The top wall 24 of the cross-over duct may beprovided with spaced access openings 30 in alignment with all orselected of the underlying cells l6 preferably at the points ofintersection of the cells with the cross-over duct, each opening beingdefined by an upstanding cylindrical wall or rim 32, and the lower wall28 is provided with spaced pilots 34 in alignment with the accessopenings which are particularly adapted for the reception of a tool,such as a hole saw, to guide the tool when it is desired to complete anopening from the duct 22 into a cell positioned below.

The upper wall 24 of the cross-over duct 22 is further provided with anouter ring comprising an annular upstanding band 36 placedconcentrically about the upstanding rim 32 at each junction point andwelded or otherwise secured to the upper wall 24. The upstanding band 36ii of larger diameter and of greater height than the circular rim 32 andprovides an annular space 38 between the rim and the band, as clearlyshown in Fig. 2.

In practice, when it is desired to conceal an unused access opening, theopening 30 may be covered by suitable protective members, indicatedgenerally at 46, over which the concrete floor fill is poured, as shownin Fig. 2, and when it is desired to provide an immediately availablejunction unit, the access opening is provided with an upper section,indicated generally at 42, the opening being completed through the lowerwall 28 of the duct 22 and the top wall of the cell I6 for communicationwith the underlying cell, as illustrated in Fig. 5.

Referring now particularly to Fig. 2, an unused access opening is firstprovided with a cup shaped closure 44 arranged to fit snugly within thecircular rim 32, the closure being provided with an outwardly extendedflange 46 at its upper end which may rest against and extend over theupper edge of the circular rim 32. A handle 48 secured to the closuremay be provided for convenienc in removing the same. A flat circulardisc 56 is then fitted snugly within the upstanding band 36 and on topof the flanged portion 46 of the closure 44. The disc 56 may andpreferably will be secured in place by a clip 52 extended diametricallyacross the disc and projecting through opposed openings 54 formed in theband 36, as shown. The unused access opening is then covered by theconcrete floor fill in the usual manner, the flat disc 56 providing aprotective cover for the concealed access opening and the annular space38 between the upstanding rim 32 and band 36, as clearly shown in Fig.2.

. When it is subsequently desired to make use of a concealed accessopening, the concrete above and the clip 52 and disc 50 are removedrevealing the clean annular space 38. The space 38 is then provided witha suitable cement, such as iron cement indicated at 55, into which thelower portion of the junction unit section 42 is extended to secure theunit in place upon hardening of the cement. As shown in Fig. 5, theupper section of the junction unit comprises an annular member 56 havingan inner depending flange 58 to which a circular band 60 may be secured,the lower portion of the band 60 being embedded in the cement 55. Theannular member 56 is further provided with an outer upstanding flange 62forming a circular recessed portion arranged to receive a gasket 64 anda cover member 66 which may be secured to the ring 56 by screws 68. Asillustrated, the unit 42 i located with the top of the member 56 andcover 66 flush with the screed line of the concrete floor fill. If theconcrete fill has been excessively broken, the unit may be furthergrouted in by concrete as indicated at it in Fig. 5.

The closure 44 may then be removed and the opening completed through thelower wall 28 and the top of the cell positioned below. In practice, theopening through the wall 28 may be defined by a circular grooved portion12 concentric with the pilot 34 for guiding the hole saw in completingan entrance of a predetermined size into the cell below, the cut openingbeing preferably provided with a grommet I4, as shown.

When. a floor covering is used, a floor covering adapter comprising acircular flanged member 16 may be placed on top of the junction unit andprovided with an insert 18 of the floor covering, the adapter beingsecured to the junction unit cover 66 by a central screw 86, and washer82. In practice, the centrally disposed screw 86 may serve as a markerto assist in locating the equidistantly spaced concealed units, and someof the concealed units may be provided with similar markers for thispurpose.

It will be understood that when the wire distributing system isinitially installed, an upper section 42 is provided at those junctionpoints where they are known to be immediately required, and are placedin position before the concrete fill is applied, the remaining junctionpoints being provided with the covering disc 50 and covered over withthe concrete fill as shown in Fig. 2.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been hereinillustrated and described, it will be understood that the invention maybe embodied in other forms within the scope of the following claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a wire distributing cellular metal floor of the characterdescribed, a cross over duct comprising an elongated hollow memberprovided with an access opening in the top wall thereof defined by anupstanding tubular extension from said wall, a circular band upstandingfrom said wall and concentric with and extended above said tubularextension and forming an annular recess defined by the top wall and saidupstanding band and extension, and a circular disk fitted within saidcircular band and engaging the upper end of said extension for coveringsaid access opening and entirely enclosing the annular recess to protectthe latter from the subsequently poured floor fill, said circular diskbeing adapted for removal upon breaking through the floor to permitinsertion of an upper section into said an the opening is broken away asshown in Fig. 4, 76 nular recess.

2. In a wire distributing cellular metal floor of the characterdescribed, a cross over duct comprising an elongated hollow memberprovided with an access opening in the top wall thereof defined by anupstanding tubular extension from said wall, a circular band concentricwith said extension secured to and upstanding from said wall and formingwith said extension an annular recess defined by the top wall and saidupstanding band and extension and adapted to receive an upper section topermit access to the duct, and means for covering said access openingcomprising a cup-shaped closure member fitted within said extension, acircular disk fitted within said band and engaging the upper edge ofsaid closure member for covering said access opening and entirelyenclosing the annular recess to pro- 6 tect the latter from thesubsequently applied floor fill, said covering means being adapted forsubsequent removal upon breaking through the floor to permit insertionof an upper section into said annular recess when subsequently required.

JOSEPH W. WIESMANN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date Re. 17,290 Ashley, Jr. May 7, 1929 1,530,200 Richardson et al.Mar, 17, 1925 2,041,965 Sargent May 26, 1930 2,125,366 Young Aug. 2,1938 2,202,147 Gerriets May 28, 1940 2,445,197 Wiesmann July 13, 1948

